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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Weird Places For RPG Inspiration part XXXX: Overlord

I don't remember what part I left off on these, and since I never gave them a proper tag, it's really hard to check. So as of now, when I do one, I'm just going to forgo the number. Seem fair? Great, I'm glad I'm assuming you all agree with me.

So, I recently marathoned the first 11 episodes of Overlord. It's one of the recent spate of 'Protagonist caught in a video game world gone real' animes. Still, for all that, it's pretty good. I've always enjoyed the 'Bad Guy Protagonist' subgenre. It's something that's rarely explored, and even more rarely executed well. Which is what makes Overlord so great, in that it's funny, clever, deep, and yet still enjoyable to watch. You don't need a ton of backstory to know what's going on, but the subtexts are there, if you want to think more on the subject. A nice balance.

Plus, it has Albedo (she's the horned girl on the right in my silly homemade meme), who was amusingly programmed by the protagonist to be in love with him as a joke. For some reason, I am greatly amused by Albedo as a character. It's not just her torso, I swear. There are plenty of big boobs in Anime, to the point that I am almost inured of them.

Anyway, it makes me want to play a good old fashioned bad guy campaign of D&D 3e. Remember the Blackguard prestige class? It was horrifically under-powered compared to later prestige classes from all of the add-ons and third party materials, but it had so much style.

Who else is watching this anime? What are you favorite characters? What other sources of RPG ideas have been clicking with you lately?